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Striker Titan Lore: Subclass Series

Don’t let the Hunters or Warlocks deceive you, Guardian. Titans bear the weight of the City’s defense. We held the line at the Gap, we built the walls and keep the dream of the City alive. Without our strong arms and broad shoulders, what keeps the Tower standing? Never forget that.

Welcome back Guardians, today we are continuing my subclass series, focusing on the Striker Titan. I will speak about the role of a Striker Titan and include legendary Striker Titan’s in destiny’s universe. If you have recently started a new character and you are completing a defender Titan, please join my discord and DM, as I am still chasing all of the mission dialogues for the defender Titan video, specially, when you complete each step, the vanguard usually has a piece of dialogue which is not in the databases, but often important to the lore of the subclass.

As usual, when I upload a youtube video, I will be live over on Twitch, feel free to come and join. The script for this video will also be up on my website, link below. This is myelin games and I hope you enjoy this latest destiny lore episode.

Let’s start off with the role of the Striker Titan and then we will move onto some legendary Strikers in Destiny’s universe. Striker Titans, like all Titans, aim to protect the City, their aggression should not be confused with carelessness or abandonment of the City, but rather disciplined and planned aggression in order to defend the City, i.e. the best defense is a crackling offense. This is supported by the Legend of the Titan quest line which reads,

“Some doctrines argue that the roles of a Titan is to stand in defense of the Last City. The Strikers see a crackling offense as the best defense.”- Ouros.

So, at first glance, Striker Titans may seem less orientated to defending the City compared to a Defender Titan, but the truth is they defend the City through attacking the enemy. The Striker quest line further reinforces that Striker Titans put their bodies in harms way to protect the City, it reads,

“Cayde and Ikora have it all wrong. It’s not that Strikers have a death wish. They throw their bodies at incoming fire so others won’t have to. It’s also the most direct line to a target.” —Lord Shaxx

Zavala goes onto to say that Striker Titans are not carelessly throwing themselves into battle, into the front line, but rather it is calculated attacks to disrupt the enemy and defend the City. Path of the Striker quest line reads,

There is no doctrine but defense. If the City is to stand, every response must be measure. Every attack calculated. Every body block followed by a devastating finale.

If the City is to survive, it must be unquestioned. The Walls must stand. No matter the cost.”

– Zavala.

The Striker Titan is the devastating finale, the Striker Titan is the follow up to any aggression directed to the City and consequently, Striker Titans form the Front line, the Spear Head aimed to shatter enemy lines. But once again, their aggression and willingness to charge into the front line of battle is not careless, it is planned and measured. The Striker grimoire card reads,

Striker Titans charge into close combat, armored in Light and wielding fistfuls of thunder.

Striker tactics depend on shock and disciplined aggression. They must awe and scatter the enemy, or risk being overwhelmed. Fellow Guardians prize their ability to draw fire as they shatter the enemy line.

And the Path of the Striker further reinforces that Striker Titans are the front line, it reads,

As a striker, you move to the front. The front of the war, the front of the Fireteam, the front of the line. You are the front, and the front moves with you.

Go, take the field of the battle. Prove to the enemy that you are a living front line. Make them heed your training well.

Of course, being consistently on the front line is not easy or safe and Zavala acknowledges how dangerous it is for Striker Titans, however Zavala also places an immense amount of pressure on all Titans, for all Titans to defend the City, this pressure is more than Ikora and Cayde place on Warlocks and Hunters respectively. Titans are trained to do one thing, protect the City, whether that is through a ward of dawn or whether that is an Striker Titan counter attack, it is always the same goal defend the City. Have a listen to the Legend of the Tian grimoire card,

“I speak often of the power of the City as a symbol. But never forget, it is a real place. The home to living, breathing people. A home that would not exist without your efforts.

Down below us stretches the last fee city on earth. And it is here because of your strength, your deeds. Do not forget this, Guardian. It is why we are here.”

The Titan’s are so ingrained with defending the City and the Wall, that Titans who are killed are buried at the Wall. The Legend of the Titan reads,

Good to see you again, Guardian. I truly mean that. You would be surprised how many newborn Guardians do not make it out of their early days. If it gives you any solace, I make sure that every fallen Titan is buried at the Wall.

Many Guardians don’t make it out of their early days? Is Zavala being too careless with the lives of Titans. Here is the really interesting thing, Zavala, sells this philosophy really well, this Titan code, to defend the City, to live and die for the City, nearly every paragraph that comes out of Zavala’s mouth is about defending the City BUT there is one Titan who disagrees and questions Zavala’s code, Kabr, Kabr questions whether Zavala carelessly throws Titans into the front line of War. The Striker quest line reads,

“What the City wants us to do—what we want to do—it doesn’t make any damned sense. That phrase ‘tip of the spear’ sounds good in speeches,

but you know what happens to spear tips? They break. But that’s what it takes. If the choice is between you or the Wall? You break.” —Kabr

Really interesting, because obviously Kabr never returned from the Vault of Glass, and Kabr seems like he disagreed with Zavala, disagreed with all this branding of Titans as the Tip of the spear, the front line aggression, basically, we eventually break.

What do you think, is Zavala careless with the lives of Striker Titans, justifying their use in order to defend the City, or is he correct, this is carefully planned, disciplined offense, and is necessary to keep the City safe.

Regardless to Zavala’s morals and ethics, there are some legendary Striker Titans in Destiny’s history. Of course, Zavala has mastered the Path of the Striker Titan, which is evident in his trailer, I have already completed a video on Zavala so I wont cover him again. However, I believe there is another Striker Titan within the Tower, Lord Shaxx.

Whilst it is not confirmed, there are a number of hints that Shaxx has mastered elements of a Striker Titan. IN the crucible quest line for the Striker Titans it says this,

They say a Fireteam of Defenders can hold any fortification, and that a group of Strikers can bring it crashing to the ground. Who said that? I did. It’s true.” – Lord Shaxx.

Lord Shaxx obviously has some fondness for the style of a Striker Titan and this paragraph is very similar to the threat that Lord Shaxx says to Tex Mechanica, the weapon foundry. Tex Mechanica were trying to rig crucible matches and this was Shaxx’s response,

/ this is the part where you start blustering at my little buddy here and telling him it’s all legal down in the City, just business, just sponsorship.

So listen: I can have ten Titans crashing through your ceiling any time I like and you can tell them it’s just business.

Whilst it doesn’t specifically say that they are Striker titans, I imagine that Titans crashing through your ceiling would be Strikers. The last bit of evidence that hints at Lord Shaxx being a Striker titan is this from the Quest line.

“Shaxx seems not to have a preference for a specific firearm. In his days as a competitor, he would finish fights with his hands whenever he could. He was the idol of every Striker.” —Ikora Rey

On top of that, remember how Lord Shaxx helped to win the Battle of Twilight Gap, he led a counter strike against the Fallen, very Striker Like, the best defense is a crackling offense.

Moving along, you may have also spotted some other Titan names in the previous quotes, such as Kabr and Ouros. Kabr is better known for entering the Vault of Glass and leaving the aegis for us to defeat the Templar and Ouros is better known for being the Leader of the Sunbreakers. As far as I am aware there are no other pieces of information that suggests that Ouros and Kabr were also Striker Titans, however in general, I often consider the more experienced Titans to possess multiple subclasses, similar to the Vanguard, the Vanguard mentor us in each subclass and show their experience with light manipulation.

Whilst we cant be certain for Ouros and Kabr, we do know of one Titan who definitely was a Striker Titan, Rezyl Azzir, yes the same Titan who is entwined in the story of Dredgen Yor (see my previous videos on that). In the Rezyl Azzir card, war without end , Rezyl purposely was killed by the Fallen to draw at a Fallen Kell, the Fallen Kell picked up his dead body not realising that Rezyl Azzir planned for his ghost to revive him at that exact moment, so he could deliver a Fist of Havoc, I actually had some artwork made for this a long time ago, here is how the card reads,

Rezyl’s Ghost darted low through the crowd. He didn’t like Rezyl’s plan, but now he understood it.

Distracted by their Kell’s triumph, the Ghost’s presence went unnoticed until a beam of light swept over Rezyl’s body.

The mood shifted instantly, cheers turning to ravenous shouts.

The Kell’s gaze fell to the Ghost as the beam faded.

The circle began to collapse — the Fallen set to pounce.

As the Kell moved to toss Rezyl aside, cold steel met the underside of the alien marauder’s jaw, followed by a red flash as Rezyl pulled his cannon’s trigger.

Ether spewed in an angry geyser and the Kell’s grip loosened. Rezyl hit the ground and unloaded five more rounds into the Fallen leader’s torso. The monster dropped.

Frenzied, the Kell’s crew closed in like a flood.

Rezyl’s Ghost lifted above the fray, frantic, “Now! Now! Now!”

In one motion, Rezyl rose from a crouch, his fists clenched and raised high as a storm of Arc Light built within him, his full might raining down on the Kell’s chest.

The shockwave of Rezyl’s attack hit like a meteor, shattering
the Kell’s body and any Fallen within the Havoc storm’s radius.

The remaining Fallen staggered, knocked back and dazed.

Rezyl triggered his Sparrow.

The last Striker Titan I want to mention is Wei Ning. Like Zavala, Wie Ning has mastered both Striker and Defender disciplines. The Striker quest line reads,

“Heh. Nothing like that moment when you bring the Fists down. Sometimes, in the crucible, I like to have my helmet cam running.

That way, I can go back and see the whites of their eyes just before everything goes ‘zap.”

– Wei Ning.

And the defender quest line reads,

“Be the Wall, they always told me. When you’re forming the Ward, imagine the Wall before you. Walk inside it, wrap it around you.

That never worked for me. I just get really, really angry and then the Light does the rest.” —Wei Ning

As you can see like Zavala Wei Ning mastered both disciplines. Wei Ning was actually killed by Crota at the battle for the Moon. Eriana-3 was torturing a wizard and that wizard projected a vision of Wei Ning’s fate, which was impaled on Crota’s blade.

Just remember Titan, as you charge to the front line, you carry the dream of the City with you. As you step back into the wilds, always remember those of us behind the Walls. We count on the strength of your shoulders. We’re counting on you.

That concludes this latest Destiny Lore episode, if you would like to support the channel, leave the phrase, “Helmet cam”, I love the idea of striker titans wearing helmet cameras as the charge into the front line of battle, either destined for death or glorious mutli kills. As usual, it has been a pleasure, this is myelin games.